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The Kafir: The Unbeliever
When Carolin boarded the plane, her knees became weak. Did she really know what she was getting into? But she trusted her employer and suppressed her doubts. How could she have foreseen that nothing was as it seemed?
A deadly epidemic erupts, but it seems to be under control quickly.
Carolin Falkenberg, a microbiologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, sees a chance to finally advance her career--or at least her habilitation thesis on the Ebola virus.
She is flying to Zimbabwe on behalf of the WHO to inspect the situation there. What she finds on the scene leaves her increasingly doubtful that everyone is playing with open cards.
A mysterious Facebook post in a virologist group also poses a riddle. Is someone trying to contact her in encrypted form?
A deadly epidemic erupts, but it seems to be under control quickly.
Carolin Falkenberg, a microbiologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, sees a chance to finally advance her career--or at least her habilitation thesis on the Ebola virus.
She is flying to Zimbabwe on behalf of the WHO to inspect the situation there. What she finds on the scene leaves her increasingly doubtful that everyone is playing with open cards.
A mysterious Facebook post in a virologist group also poses a riddle. Is someone trying to contact her in encrypted form?
- GenresThriller
ebook
First published September 1, 2020
40 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Abigail Rook
5 booksA. Rook is an author living in Germany. Mostly she edits and revises texts, sometimes she writes herself, then preferably science thrillers and contemporary fiction. Her profession (medical doctor) and her hobby (mathematics) are usually the theme-determining elements of the stories.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 28, 2022
WOW - I have just finished this book with its catchy title ´The Kafir: The Unbeliever´ by Abigail Rook, which is a pseudonym for the authors Andreas and Elisabeth, father and daughter.
I am amazed how successfully they have managed to follow a golden thread throughout their story touching delicate topics from a pandemic in Africa to secretive operations in the USA by NSA, the horrible attack in Nice on July 14, 2016 and the allegedly mysterious ties in the Middle East. The protagonist Carolin Falkenberg from Berlin, a very intelligent doctor working at Robert-Koch-Institute, finds herself in the midst of all of these events when sent to Africa in the name of the World Health Organisation.
Extremely well contextualized story that fills a book of merely 250 pages, which is an extra achievement in my eyes. A comprehensive glossary at the end of the book will help one deal with all the jargon and incidents used throughout the story.
Fantastic! Absolutely recommending this book! 👍
I am amazed how successfully they have managed to follow a golden thread throughout their story touching delicate topics from a pandemic in Africa to secretive operations in the USA by NSA, the horrible attack in Nice on July 14, 2016 and the allegedly mysterious ties in the Middle East. The protagonist Carolin Falkenberg from Berlin, a very intelligent doctor working at Robert-Koch-Institute, finds herself in the midst of all of these events when sent to Africa in the name of the World Health Organisation.
Extremely well contextualized story that fills a book of merely 250 pages, which is an extra achievement in my eyes. A comprehensive glossary at the end of the book will help one deal with all the jargon and incidents used throughout the story.
Fantastic! Absolutely recommending this book! 👍
June 3, 2020
Sehr guter, wissenschaftlich fundierter Thriller über die Hintergründe einer Epidemie, die nicht das ist, was sie zu sein scheint. Die Charaktere sind gut gezeichnet und der Spannungsbogen top. Leseemepfehlung!
October 16, 2020
A Web of Secrecy and Bad (Political) Assumptions Keep the Thrill Going
If you’re looking to get away from talk of viruses (e.g., the coronavirus) for a while, The Kafir will let you escape into a world of international, political intrigue and espionage (although the story revolves around the threat of an epidemic). And if you haven’t had enough about these infective agents, the novel still works. Though I have no background, the medical information in the book feels authoritative, which is further supported by the fact that the author is a doctor. I greatly enjoyed the interplay of life-and-death drama with medical information about viruses, manmade vs. natural. It’s a great combination to keep the pages turning.
Our heroine, Carolin Falkenberg, is a German doctor investigating a virus outbreak in Zimbabwe on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO). Not all is what it seems and eventually, she forms something of an alliance with Nathan Cole, a National Security Agency (NSA) agent. Together, they try to disentangle a web of misinformation and bad assumptions involving secret biological warfare programs, religious groups, and military organizations. The author kept me guessing about the true culprit long into the tale, although at least part of the mystery is maintained by the number of possibilities; there are quite a few characters to keep straight. And along the way, the American military system and intelligence services receive some criticism, as they too frequently opted for political answers over evidence.
There are a few, minor issues that probably came from the translation from German. For example, when a man was described as boarding a plane in Washington DC, he is actually getting off the plane. These confusions, however, are limited and detract little from the tale. More concerning to me was a somewhat inconsistent characterization of our protagonist. At the start of the book, she seems quite uneasy with people, and yet later, she’s described as extremely empathetic, seeing through Coles’ fake identity almost immediately. Perhaps under the circumstances in the tale, her transition is supposed to represent a personality change, but it seemed too abrupt and too extreme. And finally, the event that allowed the epidemic to occur is a bit too convenient. In the context of authoritative medical information on viruses, how the virus was obtained felt contrived.
Overall, if you look beyond the epidemic’s initiating event, the medical information on the virus, the individuals involved in investigating and spreading it, and their motivations make for some captivating reading.
If you’re looking to get away from talk of viruses (e.g., the coronavirus) for a while, The Kafir will let you escape into a world of international, political intrigue and espionage (although the story revolves around the threat of an epidemic). And if you haven’t had enough about these infective agents, the novel still works. Though I have no background, the medical information in the book feels authoritative, which is further supported by the fact that the author is a doctor. I greatly enjoyed the interplay of life-and-death drama with medical information about viruses, manmade vs. natural. It’s a great combination to keep the pages turning.
Our heroine, Carolin Falkenberg, is a German doctor investigating a virus outbreak in Zimbabwe on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO). Not all is what it seems and eventually, she forms something of an alliance with Nathan Cole, a National Security Agency (NSA) agent. Together, they try to disentangle a web of misinformation and bad assumptions involving secret biological warfare programs, religious groups, and military organizations. The author kept me guessing about the true culprit long into the tale, although at least part of the mystery is maintained by the number of possibilities; there are quite a few characters to keep straight. And along the way, the American military system and intelligence services receive some criticism, as they too frequently opted for political answers over evidence.
There are a few, minor issues that probably came from the translation from German. For example, when a man was described as boarding a plane in Washington DC, he is actually getting off the plane. These confusions, however, are limited and detract little from the tale. More concerning to me was a somewhat inconsistent characterization of our protagonist. At the start of the book, she seems quite uneasy with people, and yet later, she’s described as extremely empathetic, seeing through Coles’ fake identity almost immediately. Perhaps under the circumstances in the tale, her transition is supposed to represent a personality change, but it seemed too abrupt and too extreme. And finally, the event that allowed the epidemic to occur is a bit too convenient. In the context of authoritative medical information on viruses, how the virus was obtained felt contrived.
Overall, if you look beyond the epidemic’s initiating event, the medical information on the virus, the individuals involved in investigating and spreading it, and their motivations make for some captivating reading.
September 13, 2020
Good translation of a German science thriller. I enjoyed the re-read.
December 23, 2020
The Kafir follows the unintentional involvement of Carolin, a young German W.H.O. researcher, in some geo-political skulduggery concerning rival world powers and what somebody once called "The military industrial complex" - but here might be better characterised as "The military-pharmaceutical industry complex". The Kafir is, thus, tailor-made for the current situation of pandemic and (mis)information, dealing as it does with a test run for a purpose-bred viral weapon disguised as something else. The technical aspects relating to the advent and deployment of this new virus are explained with quite a lot of detail and seem convincing. Speaking as a layman I can only suppose they are accurate. Meanwhile at the personal/local level the story is one of common humanity confronted with common inhumanity as Carolin struggles to save some of the test-run's victims.
I may be a bit curmudgeonly, but for me the translation suffers from a surprising clumsiness. I often got the impression that, while having a very good level of English, the translator was not a native speaker - hence my 4 stars rating.
I may be a bit curmudgeonly, but for me the translation suffers from a surprising clumsiness. I often got the impression that, while having a very good level of English, the translator was not a native speaker - hence my 4 stars rating.
February 16, 2021
Ein durchaus spannender Roman zum Thema "Biowaffen" mit umfangreichem Glossar zur Thematik!
May 31, 2020
Es fällt mir schwer dieses Buch zu bewerten. Es ist das zweite Buch von Abigail Rook, das ich als Rezensionsexemplar lesen durfte, wobei man diese beiden Bücher nicht miteinander vergleichen darf.
Der Kafir ist ein Wissenschaftsthriller, der ganz anders ist, als seine "Artgenossen". Auf gerade einmal 150+ Seiten spannt sich ein Verschwörungskomplot, das kein wichtiges Thema auslässt - . Teilweise werden die Themen dabei nur kurz angesprochen und sollen den Leser selbst zum Denken anregen. Andere Themen, wie das des Virus werden ausführlich und mehrfach besprochen. Hierbei jedoch teilweise in einem "Fachchinesich", das nicht genügend heruntergebrochen wird um von Jedem verstanden zu werden. - Ich bekenne mich aber ausch schuldig, dass ich die Stellen teilweise nur überflogen habe und das Glossar am Ende des Buches nicht gelesen habe.
Bis auf die Stellen, in denen es um wissenschaftliche Erkklärungen geht ist das Buch sehr einfach und flüssig zu lesen, trotzdem hat mir beim Schreibstil etwas gefehlt, das das andere Buch von Abigail Rook hatte.
Die Protagonistin Carolin ist sehr sympathisch und eigentlich eine eigenständige Frau, die ihre Dissertation trotz Kind schreiben möchte und dafür einige Risiken eingeht. Dementsprechend passt ihre Naivität und dümmliche Verliebtheit am Ende des Romans gar nicht zu ihr. Die Lovestory - wenn man sie unbedingt braucht - hätte man auch anders verpacken können.
Trotzdem ist Der Kafir ein solider Thriller, der sich gut auch zwischendurch lesen lässt mit einer guten Portion Spannung und einem interessanten und logischen Plottwist am Ende. Vorallem als Einstieg ins Thrillergenre, und noch mehr ins Wissenschaftsthrillergenre, ist das Buch auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen.
Der Kafir ist ein Wissenschaftsthriller, der ganz anders ist, als seine "Artgenossen". Auf gerade einmal 150+ Seiten spannt sich ein Verschwörungskomplot, das kein wichtiges Thema auslässt - . Teilweise werden die Themen dabei nur kurz angesprochen und sollen den Leser selbst zum Denken anregen. Andere Themen, wie das des Virus werden ausführlich und mehrfach besprochen. Hierbei jedoch teilweise in einem "Fachchinesich", das nicht genügend heruntergebrochen wird um von Jedem verstanden zu werden. - Ich bekenne mich aber ausch schuldig, dass ich die Stellen teilweise nur überflogen habe und das Glossar am Ende des Buches nicht gelesen habe.
Bis auf die Stellen, in denen es um wissenschaftliche Erkklärungen geht ist das Buch sehr einfach und flüssig zu lesen, trotzdem hat mir beim Schreibstil etwas gefehlt, das das andere Buch von Abigail Rook hatte.
Die Protagonistin Carolin ist sehr sympathisch und eigentlich eine eigenständige Frau, die ihre Dissertation trotz Kind schreiben möchte und dafür einige Risiken eingeht. Dementsprechend passt ihre Naivität und dümmliche Verliebtheit am Ende des Romans gar nicht zu ihr. Die Lovestory - wenn man sie unbedingt braucht - hätte man auch anders verpacken können.
Trotzdem ist Der Kafir ein solider Thriller, der sich gut auch zwischendurch lesen lässt mit einer guten Portion Spannung und einem interessanten und logischen Plottwist am Ende. Vorallem als Einstieg ins Thrillergenre, und noch mehr ins Wissenschaftsthrillergenre, ist das Buch auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews